Hartwell Soccer Club's plan to build a turf, lighted soccer field at Glastonbury High School was recently appr

GLASTONBURY – After receiving approval from the board of education, the Glastonbury Hartwell Soccer Club is embarking on a fundraising effort to bring a "facility of the future" to Glastonbury High School.

The 45-year-old soccer club is raising $1.6 million to construct a new lighted, artificial turf field on the Baldwin Field where hundreds of students graduate each year. The graduation location will be shifted slightly to the east to make room for the new field.

Mary Kay Brophy said the club has 1,500 participants from pre-kindergarten through high school representing "a huge amount of town youth," she said.

"Glastonbury High School soccer is a great source of pride to us and our community," she said. "Not just because they keep winning state championships, but because they represent the culmination of what's achievable with years of dedication and commitment to the sport. Glastonbury is a proud soccer town."

Brophy said she envisions the field to be a "multiuse facility" used by boys and girls soccer and lacrosse teams, but also by youth clubs and organizations. Hartwell is the oldest and largest in town, and one of the biggest in New England. The club provides recreational, instructional and competitive soccer to thousands of children and teens in town from pre-kindergarten through high school.

Erik Barbieri, a resident and director of the New Britain Parks and Recreation Department who is helping the club's effort, said the town will be "getting a field we can rely on."

"This is the way of the future," he said. "This is the way it's going. We want to give our coaching staff and players every opportunity we can to continue to be competitive."

The field will be regulation - 225-feet wide by 360-feet long - with 15-foot-wide sidelines around it. There will be an area for a future support building including locker rooms, storage and bathrooms which will be part of a future project. The plan also includes bleachers for 250 spectators. The field will be fenced in like the high school track and ball netting will be installed to catch wayward balls.

The club has assembled a group representing the school's athletic department, Friends of Glastonbury Soccer and other youth sports organizations to study the project. The group is working with SMRT, an architectural and engineering design firm that has designed similar facilities. The plan will go before the town plan and zoning commission for final approval later this summer.

Brophy said the club is making a "significant contribution" to the school and will be seeking corporate sponsorships for the field as well as holding fundraisers and seeking donations. No board of education funds will be used for the project, school officials noted. The group is hoping to install the field in 2017.

"We appreciate greatly what they are doing for our high school athletics and for our community and the positive impact it will have," school board Chairwoman Susan Karp said.